Sometimes it’s the ordinariness of our lives that make them extraordinary. Or at least that’s been my experience this week. With a week off from work, my week could have been spent on an amazing vacation (theoretically).  Instead, I spent this week hanging out with my sons, daughters-in-law, and my precious grandsons. And I have loved time spent with the ordinary tasks of a day in the life.

I have read endless board books (I highly recommend The Pout Pout Fish), sung silly songs (in my off-key singing voice), played peek-a-boo, changed poopy diapers, spooned mouthfuls of strained fruits and vegetables into tiny mouths, and torn food into tiny bite-sized pieces…and loved every minute! I’ve followed little crawlers all around the house, much of the time on my own hands and knees.

I loved pushing little guys on these animal toys–I definitely logged some miles!

I also spent time traveling. I rode BART on a rainy afternoon, and enjoyed the cloudy skies, cool breezes, and quiet time for reflection.

I noticed the flags flying over the airport, with the clouds as a backdrop. The American and California flags were expected…the third flag is more of a mystery.

Arriving home to our local airport, seeing palm trees is a regular sight in a day in my life–but the lights on these palms caught my eye.

Home for a day, I couldn’t resist squeezing in a walk on the beach.  After last week’s storms, the beach is rocky and mostly empty–perfect conditions for walking and taking photos!  I do love that a walk on the beach is a part of a day in my life!

Then I repacked and headed out again…to repeat the same activities from earlier in the week.  Lots of board book reading, lots of playing and hugging and squeezing…singing and diaper changing.  And some celebrating too…turning one is a big deal!

But again, it is the ordinary that I cherish…like the tiny shoes lined up next to my son’s much bigger ones.

What does a day in your life look like?  What pieces of your ordinary routine do you cherish?  What images tell us the story of your life?

You can post your photo alone or along with some words: commentary, a story, a poem…maybe even a song! I love to study the photographs that others’ take and think about how I can use a technique, an angle, or their inspiration to try something new in my own photography. (I love a great mentor text…or mentor photo, in this case!) I share my photography and writing on social media. You can find me on Instagram and Twitter using @kd0602. If you share your photos and writing on social media too, please let me know so I can follow and see what you are doing. To help our Weekly Photo community find each other, use the hashtag #dayinthelife for this week and include @nwpianthology in your post.

As you go about your life this week, pull out your camera and document the ordinariness of a day in the life from your perspective.  What images will tell the stories of your days?